Process of separating solids and liquids.



J. J. BERRIGAN.

PROCESS OF SEPARATING SOLIDS AND LIQUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.6, 1908.

1,016,870, 7 Patented Feb 6,1912.

Inventor:

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JOHN J. BEERIGAN, OF ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO FRANCIS J. AREND,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AND JOHN BERNSTBOM,

OF STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN.

PROCESS OF SEPARATIN'G SOLIDS AND LIQUIDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. (8, 1912.

Application filed March 6, 1808. Serial No. 419,486.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN JOSEPH Banni- GAN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at- Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Process of Separating Solids and Liquids; and I 'do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to a process .of separating solids and liquids through the agency of centrifugal force.

In the treatment of certain materials difficult to dry and which it is desired to discharge from the machine in a practically dry condition, I have found that an activeflow of air through the apparatus and over the drying material greatly facilitates the operation. In such cases, therefore, 1 provide means for causing a positive and efficient circulation of air through the machine while the latter is in operation; the circulation being toward that end at which the material treated enters.

My invention consists in the said method of circulating air, and thereby facilitating the drying of the solid material.

In the accompanying drawing I have shown a machine adapted for carrying out my process and constructed in accordance with my invention, the machine being of the general type shown in my application Sr. No. 286,193.

In said drawing Figure 1 shows a vertical longitudinal section of the machine and Fig. 2 is a detaihperspective view illustrating one of the air scoops and the airpipe to which such scoop is applied.

The said machine comprises a rotary cylinder or drum 1', mounted for rotation in suitable bearings and having closed ends. A belt wheel 2 is indicated as means for rotating said drum. In the particular type of machine illustrated, the interior of this drum is divided into a number of separate chambers, each constituting in effect an independent separator, by transverse parti-* tions 3, which, in the construction shown, are conical, 2'. 6., have surfaces inclined with respect to the axis of rotation, and have central openings through which the material to he acted on may be passed from one chamber to the next, in succession.

The drum 1 is provided, at one end, with feeding means for supplying material to be acted on, the same comprising a conveyer at delivering the material through a hollow trunnion of the drum into a chute 5 inside said drum. The material so supplied tends, of course, to form an annulus 1n the first chamber of the drum, the liquid and solid components of such material tending to separate into more or less distinct layers or strata in this annulus; the solid material forming the outer layer when, as is usually the case, it is the heavier. The first chamber of the drum is provided with a liquid outlet port, 6, placed to receive liquid from said annulus when the latter has reached the intended thickness; and each of the other chambers of the drum may be providedwith .a liquid outlet, 7 Annular delivery chambers 8 receive the liquid discharged from these outlets 7 and an annular delivery chamber 9 receives the liquid discharged from outlet 6. The solid material is delivered from the last chamber of the drum into a discharge passage 10 extending through the shell of drum 1 and opening into an annular delivery chamber, 11. For feedin the solid material axially within the annuli formed in the several chambers and upward or toward the axis along the inclined surfaces of cones 3, I provide conveyer blades '12 mounted on' a shaft 13 arranged to be rotated with respect to drum 1. fiustomarily this conveyer rotates in the same direction as drum 1, but at a slower speed.' The conveyer may be driven by any suitable means, for example, by a belt wheel 14.

In the operation of the machine, as de scribed, the material to be acted on is delivered through chute 5 into the first chamber of the drum, and forms an annulus against the sides of this chamber. The conveyer blades in this first chamber force the solid materialv of such annulus toward the first cone 8, and thence upward or toward the axis, along the inclined surface of said cone, and to the central opening of such partition, and so to the next chamber of the drum, where the operation is repeated, and so on. The solid material so moved toward and up the cones displaces, in such movement, the liquid, which flows back toward and out of the various liquid discharge ports. The bulk of the liquid will usually be separated from the'solid material in the first chamber of the drum 1, a considerable part of the liquid remaining with the solid material when the latter is carried up the surface of the first cone 3, disengaging from such solid material while the latter 1s passing up such cone, and flowing back down the cone into the liquid stratum of the annulus in the first chamber. A similar action takes place in each of the other chambers of the drum, until the material is so dry that there is little or no escape of liquid, as such. But even when this stage has been reached there may remain in the material a greater proportion of moisture than is desired; and the proportion of moisture can be still further reduced by passing a current of air over the material. Moreover, a similar current of air passing over the material before this stage is reached also helps the drying action materially.

To provide a positive and eflicient circulation of air over the material being treated, therefore, I provide one or more of the chambers into which the drum is divided with short pipes 15 extending from the outside of the drum through the shell thereof into the interior of the drum to a point somewhat within the annulus normally forming on that portion of the drum; and to force air inthrough these pipes 15, I provide air scoops or vanes, 16, which as the drum rotates force air through said pipes into the drum and over the material spread out on the drying surfaces of the drum. The air so admitted circulates efliciently and rapidly over the material being dried, flowing through the machine in a direction opposite to the direction of passage of the solid material through the machine, and escaping through an air outlet 17. This direction of flow of the air through the machine is important and constitutes an important feature of my process; for not only does it avoid mixture of large quantities of air withthe dried material discharged from the machine (which might require the use' of dust collectors or condensers), but the moisture carried by the air is carried away from the dry end of the machine. This is particularly important when the mixture treated is delivered hot to the machine. In such case there is apt to be considerable escape of steam and other vapors, within the machine, and of course it is desirable not to carry this steam and vapor toward the dry end, but, to the contrary to carry it off at the wet end of the machine. This is accomplished by circulating air in the manner described.

What I claim is 1. In the separation of solids and liquids, the process which comprises forming by centrifugal action a layer of said materials,

working the solids thereof toward one end of said layer, discharging the liquid thereof at the other end of said layer, and simultaneously circulating gas over the surface of said layer during the said separation of the liquid and solid material, thereby carrying off liberated vapor.

2. In the separation of solids and liquids, the process which comprises forming by centrifugal action a layer of said materials, working the solids thereof toward one end of said layer, discharging the liquid thereof at the other end of said layer, and simultaneously circulating gas over the surface of ,said layer toward that end thereof where liquid is discharged during the said separation of the liquid and solid material. thereby carrying off liberated vapor.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

. JOHN J. BERRIGAN. Witnesses:

H. M. MARBLE, FRANK E. RAFFMAN. 

